Aug 24, 2007
Change in air traffic plans could bring planes over Wilton
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Commercial planes could be in holding patterns just 4,000 to 5,000 feet above Wilton, and bad weather could have departing flights lower than that altitude, town officials have said, after reviewing the impact statements from the Federal Aviation Administration regarding its airspace redesign plan.
First Selectman William Brennan said in an interview Monday that the initial proposal by the FAA had “concerned” him and other nearby town officials.
“What bothered us most was ... their public hearings, the towns weren’t even notified. A lot of the routes that they were proposing, they weren’t taking advantage of Long Island Sound,” said Mr. Brennan.
State Rep. Toni Boucher, a Wilton resident, said the flight patterns are affecting towns all over the area, including Westchester County and Fairfield County.
“Wilton is a very difficult place to govern,” because the town’s around many things, Ms. Boucher said. The town was in the middle of the Connecticut Light and Power Co.’s power line project, Route 7’s widening and other projects over the years.
“We’re really a beautiful Colonial community” and should work to save it.”
Ms. Boucher said airports in the area are growing. She said Westchester County airport, specifically, is seeing larger planes and more of them.
New Canaan First Selectman Judy Neville said the FAA plan stated that holding patterns would be established at 4,000 to 5,000 feet over Wilton and New Canaan, and could fan out from there.
In the event of delays because of crowding or adverse weather, outgoing flights would pass below holding patterns in a 50-mile-wide departure radius.
That’s in addition to the still unknown number of additional flights to LaGuardia flying over the area.
“This, I believe, is a regional issue,” Ms. Boucher said. “We have to work with federal authorities” to get the best outcome for the town.
“Our individual town doesn’t have as strong of a voice” as it would if combined with, say, five other towns, Ms. Boucher said.
Legal action is also a possibility. Ms. Neville said that she has spoken with an attorney, and that Bergen County, N.J., and Rockland County, N.Y., have jointly hired an attorney with whom she is talking.
“We’re in conversation with Greenwich, Stamford and Wilton as to whether we want to join the suit with New York and New Jersey,” Ms. Neville said.
An amendment by 4th District U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays to block funding for the plan failed to gain approval in the House of Representatives and awaits a Senate vote.
Mr. Brennan said the plans also did not include any noise mitigation. If the routes, number of planes or altitude of the planes is changed, noise could become an issue, he said.
When the FAA returned in April with the plan, “not much had changed,” he said. With the final decision coming out later this month, he didn’t feel it would be appropriate to speculate on what might be in the plan. But if the plan negatively impacts the town, they will work with the FAA to improve it.
“We’re going to contest and fight it. We’re not going to take it lying down,” said Mr. Brennan, adding that “we have to see how everyone’s impacted” because the flight routes are a regional issue.
Residents have, for the most part, not been calling with complaints about the flight routes yet since they haven’t been implemented yet, he said.
—Additional reporting by Brian Shea and Robin Walluck
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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